Vietnam wants real peace, but not on impracticable terms based on greed and territorial expansion; and real friendship based on mutual respect, but not at the price of hegemony and dependence.
At a press conference on May 21 in Manila, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung took the opportunity to answer a number of questions about the East Sea and Vietnam’s solutions. The stance taken by the PM on this occasion accurately and firmly reflected what is entrenched so deeply within the hearts of the Vietnamese people.
PM Dung affirmed that Vietnam is using, and will exhaust every opportunity for dialogue to solve East Sea issues peacefully.
He stated that Vietnam and its people are actively and sincerely seeking mutual friendship and cooperation. "This would not only bring about basic long-term benefits for both countries, but also contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and in the world as well.”
Spratly and Paracels archipelagos belong to Vietnam
The PM added, however, “We have been trying to show our sincere goodwill in showing restraint, but we can see now is that China is intensifying its aggressive actions, continuing to bully and provoke Vietnamese ships and continuing to slander and blame Vietnam.”
In fact, we see that China's actions and words reveal the nation as a wolf in sheep's clothing. China’s aggressive actions have put shame on Chinese people themselves. Zhou Fang, the editor of the Chinese Xinhua News Agency has recently objected China’s policy of using force in the East Sea and proposed removing China’s Sansha City from the Paracels.
Meanwhile, China has been publicly inventing stories to tarnish Vietnam's reputation and laying the blame at Vietnam’s doorstep, citing Vietnam “breaches”. At the same time they continue to use words and phrases such as "friendship", "neighbour", and "comprehensive cooperation" when they talk about their view of the future.
If China actually wanted to be a friendly neighbour, they might do well not to forget that over the past 40 years China has already "granted" their “friendship" to Vietnam in the form of four “special gifts”.
The first one was in 1974, when China used force to illegally occupy Vietnam’s Paracels archipelago.
The second took place in 1979, when China used their armed forces to invade six provinces in northern Vietnam.
The third, in 1988, when China once again used force to illegally occupy Gac Ma Island, part of Vietnam’s Spratly archipelago.
And this year, 2014, China illegally placed the Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig on Vietnam’s continental shelf.
Their sayings and actions have fail to deceive the Vietnamese government or its people. The international community is not deceived either. Many countries have shown worries and have spoken out in opposition to China’s aggressive actions.
During the Manila interview, PM Nguyen Tan Dung said frankly, “Vietnam is determined to protect its legal sovereignty the privileges of its territories and waters. We always want peace and friendship, but this must be based on independence, self-determination, and non-negotiable sovereignty over our seas and territory. These principles are inviolable and will not be relinquished for a dependent peace and friendship."
We want real peace, not the false one that is being extended to us with pleasant lip service belying greed and expansionist intentions.
We want friendship based on equality, respect for truth, justice and respect for each other.
This type of patronizing and dependent peace we will not accept. The question is, Does the "China's Dream", recently spoken of so often by representatives of the nation mean a dream of returning to the Celestial Empire with several colonised satellite nations?
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